Bought by the Boss

Though that doesn’t mean I can’t play with Liam for my enjoyment. He bought my assistant. I bought his. Fair is fair.

When we reach the end of the dock, I smile, noticing the way Mallory’s licking her lips when she looks at me. “Ready?” I ask her.

“Mm hmm,” is all she says.

I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her in close. The hitch of her breath is undeniable, and the intensity of her reaction storms across me in a fierce wave. Just like that, I’m rock hard and aware of her next to me in ways I’ve never been aware of her.

Determined to stick to my original plan, I raise the cellphone, tilt my head toward her. My focus narrows, not on her smile, but on the palpable lust darkening her eyes.

Right when I lower the phone, she snatches it from my hand. “Ugh. That’s a terrible photo of me. Let me take another.”

I’m admittedly surprised. Mallory doesn’t seem the type of woman who focuses heavily on her appearance. Albeit, I don’t know her well but Aria is the most down-to-earth woman I know, and they’re best friends.

She slowly lifts the phone up, but it’s in those seconds that she acts. One moment I’m standing on the edge of the dock. The next her fingers brush across mine, a sudden fierceness filling her gaze, and then, using all of her body weight, she rams into me. Caught off guard, I soar backward crashing under the crisp water. I break through the surface, finding Mallory at the edge of the dock, laughing.

Quite proud of herself, she stops laughing and points at me. “That is your punishment for such a douchebag move. Don’t ever use me as a pawn again. Got it?”

“Oh yeah, I got it.” I got something else, too. Heat floods me, no matter that the water is slightly cool. I like when she calls me out, the strength in her eyes, the fire. In fact, I didn’t know Mallory had that in her. She’s both quiet and full of spark, a contradiction for sure.

I swim toward the dock’s ladder and am quickly out of the water and back on the wooden platform with her. My clothes hang off me, my feet squishing against the water in the soles of my sandals, but my only focus is her.

At whatever she sees in my expression, Mallory begins stepping backward, waving my phone in her hand, almost daring me to charge. “Do you think that phone is going to keep you safe, sweetheart?” I ask, amused.

“It is a very nice phone.” She grins, obviously thinking she’s won. “You don’t want to ruin it, do you?”

Before she can take another step back, I lurch forward and gather her in my arms. She fights against me. “There isn’t a chance in hell you’re not going in this water.”

Her squeal echoes around me when I toss us both into the water, feetfirst. A second later, I break through the water first.

She follows and gasps, “Your phone.”

“Has a waterproof cover.”

She blinks, her hair plastered down the sides of her face, then she breaks into laughter. “All right, you won that one, Keller.”

“I’ve never been a good loser.” I chuckle, wrapping an arm around her, swimming us back to the dock. Each glide of my arm brushes my erection against her sex. She must feel it. I don’t see how she couldn’t. And yet, she doesn’t move away either.

Once we reach the dock again, I stay in behind her as she climbs the ladder and then I follow a moment later. There, standing with my clothes sagging off me, I realize she’s wearing a white shirt, and with her white bra, her dark nipples are showing through. The definition of the curves of her breasts is clear, as are the contours of her body. I can’t look away, slowly gazing over her from head to toes, no matter that I know I shouldn’t. Beneath her plain clothes is one hell of a body.

“Well, I—”

The rasp in her voice draws my gaze up. The lust that greets me in her eyes takes all my control not to act upon it. Though she happens to not be looking at my face. A quick glance down tells me that as tight as her clothes are so are mine, and my hard-on is on full display. What the fuck are you doing? “We should get changed,” I say, breaking into the heated silence between us.

She nods, glancing away.

This was never in the plan. The last thing I should do is fuck her. I need to keep my hands to myself. I might want to be cruel to Liam, but not to Mallory. Remin

ding myself that I didn’t bring her here for that kind of an adventure, I move to the front door. There, I reach into my duffel bag for the cabin’s keys.

Once I’ve got the door open, I grab her suitcase and my bag and wave her inside. I follow her into the open-concept living room with a small kitchen just to the right of the front door. There’s a bathroom to the left, and a loft-style bedroom that’s only accessible by climbing a wooden ladder resting against the large logs which make up the exterior walls. The furnishings are simple. A black couch sits in front of the fireplace. A small round table in the corner with two deep-red chairs. I point to the bathroom with the all-glass shower. “There are towels in the closet next to the sink.”

She smiles, meeting my gaze, handing my cellphone back to me. “Thanks.” She grabs her suitcase, leaving wet footprints in her wake as she pads her way to the bathroom.

Once inside, she goes to shut the door but her gaze catches mine. She’s holding my stare intently, challengingly almost. It’s an unexpected turn of events that I never would have seen coming. Mallory breathes sensuality and passion. Whether it be that she’s attracted to me, or she’s like this with every man, I wouldn’t have ever guessed that about her. She’s always been so quiet, so reserved.

Maybe I hadn’t looked hard enough.

When the bathroom door clicks shut, I move back to the living room, reaching into my bag for dry clothes. I drop my wet clothes right there, sliding into a fresh pair of boxer briefs and black cotton sports shorts and ditching my shirt altogether. I open the front door and set to hanging my soaking clothes along the porch’s railing to dry before going back inside again. With a long sigh, I take a seat on the couch, resting my arms on my knees, my cell in my hand.